The good: Mike and I had a wonderful morning together. We went to church, got breakfast from my favorite bakery (their raspberry croissant is to die for...and I don't say that lightly!), and went hiking on a sunny, chilly winter day:
We then spent the rest of the afternoon babysitting my cousins, talking with my wonderful aunt, and eating dinner with them before traipsing back home. This is why I love living closer to family:
The bad: I thought the whole election drama was over. Apparently, it's not. I don't want to get into it much, but basically my parents and grandparents and aunts are gossiping about me and are worried about my "mortal soul" and think I'll be going to hell. It's insane, I don't even want to share that...because...it's embarrassing, frankly. My family is so much more loving and intelligent than that. I'm honestly afraid that this election has permanently hurt some relationships.
I merely put a magnet on my car. And disagreed when my father claimed that Obama was racist. That was the entire conversation.
Thankfully, I have a wonderful aunt who loves and supports and defends me. And a sister and husband who are in the same situation as I am... It's just weird to go from being so loved and respected to being treated like...this.
Oh, and that car? The one that we bought from my aunt and uncle and promptly broke down? It won't start. Again. It's seeming more and more like we will never sell it. And now we have to get a new timing belt for our functional car. Let's just say we're not in the best of situations with that thing called money right now. It's so frustrating and disheartening and I just want to start throwing punches or something.
The FYI: Remember that whole photo blog thing? Well, I'm going to dust it off and start to posting my pictures up there more regularly... (Yes, I say this right before a 5-day weekend and 8 more days of NaBloPoMo and a Top Secret Thing which is taking all my time. I'm ambitious.)
I'm so sorry to hear about this. Family drama can be so difficult to work through. Hopefully they will come around soon.
ReplyDeleteThat's rough with the family politics. But be true to your heart. You're not alone in how you think.
ReplyDeleteYou're obviously respectful of their opinions, and they owe you the same.
ReplyDeleteAnd for real? Obama a racist? Based on what?
I know how it feels to be ostracized from a group of people you try to care about--my in-laws refused to come to our wedding at first because we weren't serving meat. J was devastated. It eventually worked out, but it's one of those hurtful things that we'll never really forget.
Just focus on the love from the people who support you! And hopefully everyone else will remember the bigger, more important picture soon.
ReplyDeleteI know how you feel... it's so tough, especially when it's family. I don't even want to be a part of the visit this year over the holidays because I'm the black sheep with the differing opinion - not just political, but religious as well - and I don't want to a) even HAVE those conversations, and b) be made to feel like shit because of certain things I believe. Walk tall, girl - and continue to be respectful. We'll get through it :)
ReplyDeleteAll you can do is be true to yourself. If nothing else, people should respect the hell out of you for doing so.
ReplyDeleteI hate confrontation, and worrying about confrontating (Is that even a word Shannon?! I'm not even going to check, I'll just hope that it is) with my own family is especially stressful. Here's the optimistic way to look at it though. Although their reason may be completely skewed and wrong on so many levels, at least the reason they are "worried" about is in fact, because they love you. Plain and simple. So continue to be strong and stick up for what you believe in, and just know, that whether or not they want to agree with you or ever even try and see it from your point of view, at least you know their love will never go away. Aaaaaand I'm stepping off my soapbox now :D
ReplyDeleteOh CUTE baby. Blah to the family politics. Hope you enjoyed the hike doubly to make up for it!
ReplyDeleteOne of the things I learned very quickly when dealing with clients is that I do not discuss politics or religion with any of them. Unless I know them very well, I refuse to participate in a conversation about either topic with anything more than "mm hmm..." because it is just too hard. I can let them rant if they like, but I will not engage.
ReplyDeleteMaybe, unfortunately, you should try this with your family. Sometimes you just can't change anyone's mind and it is best for everyone concerned if you just avoid certain areas. Not very heroic, I know, but sometimes maybe that's better.
I'm really sorry about your problems regarding the election.
ReplyDeleteat least the good outweighed the bad! :) i love the picture from your hike it looks like a beautiful morning!
ReplyDeleteI just cannot understand how people are not open to differing beliefs. Maybe it's easy to say because I fall on the same side of the political spectrum as you. But, I like to think that I'm OK with my conservative friends expressing themselves differently than me in the voting booth.
ReplyDeletePS - I love that photo of winter.
so sorry to hear about that. however, i can tell that you're handling it with the UPMOST amount of grace a human being can exude.
ReplyDeletebut really, Obama a racist? when was this broadcast on Fox?
oh sweetheart.
ReplyDeletei KNOW what you mean in regards to your family.
whenever my family gets brought up with my friends, it's usually in the 'they kicked me out of my house, they will not acknowledge the fact i have a girlfriend, etc' and all i want to do is cry and scream that beyond all that 'THEY ARE GOOD PEOPLE' and 'I STILL LOVE THEM SO MUCH'..
i'm sorry you're going through what seems to be a pretty rough time with your family.. just remember, they'll always love you no matter what. you're their daughter, and a damn good daughter at that.
Your pictures are so beautiful, and I'm so sorry that you're going through this.
ReplyDeleteIt sounds like when you can get everyone off this topic, politics might just be one of those off limits items. It sucks, but if your family isn't capable of having a rational conversation about this it might be best to save yourself some piece of mind.
gah- family issues are never fun and never easy. i totally understand. my dad and step mom are very conservative and my father almost refuses to accept that i do stem cell research. he wont come see the lab and basically thinks its morally wrong. also- last year my step mom and got into a HUGE knock down drag out fight in front that lasted 2 hours of the museum of natural in nyc. it was over years and years of issue we have had with each other but never vocalized. and it happened in front of my 2 young little brothers. i thought neither of us, or our relationship would ever recover. however, i am happy to report that things are slowly getting better. the thing about family is that you cant help but get over things eventually because despite your differences you are stuck with eachother and even when you dont necessaryily like eachother you do unconditionally love eachother. those things cause healing. you will probably never see eye to eye on many things with your family (i know i wont) but i know that someday they will accept you for how wonderful and loving and talented you are and look beyond your political beliefs. it will just take time. just lean on your hubby for support and stay true to yourself.
ReplyDeletelet me know if you ever need advice or want to talk
xoxo
crystal
Man, that sucks X a million about the family politics drama. :( I'm can't believe they're gossiping about you and saying such horrible things. Grrr. Don't be mean to my Ashley! (Btw - whenever I talk about you to John I call you "Veggie Ashley" to differentiate between you and Ashley Forrette. hee)
ReplyDeleteAnd Obama -- racist?!??!?! Um. That's crazypants.
I truly hope things get better between you and your family.
I think your mortal soul is doing just swell! So there! :) xoxo
Sorry I'm so late in posting this!
ReplyDeleteThat's too bad about your family. Sometimes family can be so maddening! Just remember, if they didn't love you they wouldn't care what your opinions were.
*hugs*
ReplyDeleteCan I just say how much I do not like people saying their "scared for your soul" when really they are only using it as an excuse to talk badly about you. How does that make sense?
That baby is OH SO CUTE!
ReplyDelete